Japan Post Bank Co., the world's biggest deposit holder, reported half-year profit of ¥150.1 billion Friday, beating listed rivals that have been struck by rising bad loans and investment losses.
The result eclipses the ¥92 billion earned by Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc., Japan's biggest publicly traded bank, for the six months that ended Sept. 30. Tokyo-based Japan Post Bank, which is being privatized by the government, had a maiden profit for the second-half to March 31 of ¥152.1 billion.
The former unit of the nation's postal service had ¥181 trillion in deposits as of June 30. It had ¥212.1 trillion in assets at the end of March, more than any other Japanese bank, including Mitsubishi UFJ with ¥193 trillion.
Under legislation championed by former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, Japan Post was split last October into four companies, specializing in banking, insurance operations, mail delivery and management of post offices.
The Finance Ministry now holds all shares in Japan Post. The government plans to sell its stake in Japan Post Bank and may list it on the stock exchange as early as 2010.
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